Flying Tigers (1942)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Yes it's a propaganda piece; yes it's a bit cheesy; yes it's not accurate. What did you expect it's a Republic film and made for entertainment in a very dark time of our history: the beginning of WW2 when things weren't going so well.There is also the issue of security. We couldn't afford to name names and be historically accurate without spilling the beans to our enemies. Imagine laying out the entire contingent, personal conflicts, equipment and order of battle just so you could say in the middle of a war that your got it historically accurate. You must view such films in that context and so Flying Tigers turns up pretty well. The flying sequences were nominated for Academy Awards and were great for that day and age.I was especially intrigued by the twin engine transport which turns out to be a failed one off design from the early 1930's which was used for ground shots and model shots. Here's the scoop from Wikipedia.The transport was the XC-12 1933 with two 525hp Wright Cyclone engines; span: 55'0" length: 42'0" load: 3000#. It was an all-metal; triple biplane tail; *partly-retracting gear, which extended automatically when the throttle was closed. Funded by local Greek restaurateurs as a promotional aircraft, and constructed with help from University of California students. US patent #1,745,600 issued to Socrates H Capelis, of El Cerrito, in 1930 (a modified application for patent of the design with a half-span dorsal wing and two more engines appears in 1932). The main spar was bolted together, and much of the skin attached with P-K screws rather than rivets. These tended to vibrate loose, requiring tightening or replacing every few flights. Promotional tours were soon abandoned, and its career ended as a movie prop, appearing in ground roles* in several motion pictures ("Five Came Back" 1939, "Flying Tigers" 1942, others) before reportedly being scrapped c.1943. * Flying shots in films were of a model; the plane itself was grounded by the studio's insurance company.Johnmcmd

Unfortunately the makers of this movie had a great chance to make a really factual and very exciting movie about the American Volunteer Group(AVG) aka the Flying Tigers, but they blew it. Too bad... I think most of the planes are not what was used at the time (1941-1942). And John Wayne was not even close to Claire Chennault was all about. The real story of the Flying Tigers was much more exciting and filled with some real juicy slices of life. If you don't believe me, just ask some of the people that were in the Flying Tigers and lived those exciting days. Dick Rossi, Tex Hill and Jane Hanks are a few of those people. Jane especially does not like this movie. I agree with Jane.

I'm trying to identify the type of cargo/airliner plane that was used in the movie. Woody and Alabama were flying it when their characters were introduced and when Wayne and Woody ran the nitro bomb run, it was used again. It looked like a DC-3 with a "box tail" elevator. Anybody know what type of plane this is? it's worrying me to death! I'm familiar with Some of the Douglas transport aircraft of that period and the Curtiss C-46. This plane looks like a pre WWII model, but closer to the 1936-38 era. I've tried looking through the internet at the sites for Douglas, Lockheed, Beech, Boeing and other aircraft companies, but no luck in locating this plane. I really have to know what type of plane it is.

This movie ought to have a good plot; it's shamelessly "borrowed" from the Jules Furthman/Howard Hawks 1939 classic ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS. What FLYING TIGERS lacks is any of ANGELS' snap or character chemistry. Everybody's performance feels a bit empty and wooden. Even Wayne seems to be doing the part more from memory than really feeling it. The plot holds up, for what it's worth, but the movie seems to be trying to wring some cheap emotionalism out of it, as though nobody can really get into the skin of this thing and make it real. If you can't tell the difference between real grass and Astroturf, you might like this movie a lot.